Since announcement of LS polls, inducements worth ₹9,000 crore seized nationwide

Authorities have seized cash, drugs and other inducements worth Rs 8,889 crore that were aimed to influence voters in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission said on Saturday.

At 45 per cent, drugs formed the biggest chunk of the total seizures.

Narcotics worth around Rs 3,959 crore were seized, it said.

Drugs, liquor, precious metals, freebies and cash influence elections in varying degrees, some flowing directly as inducements while others through reduced levels of circulation of money, the poll authority said.

The Commission said it has laid special emphasis on the seizure of narcotics and psychotropic substances.

Analysis of data found that states and Union Territories that used to be transit zones are increasingly becoming consumption territories of drugs, it said.

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad, Narcotics Control Bureau and the Indian Coast Guard in joint operations have made three high-value seizures of drugs in just three days, amounting to Rs 892 crore, the poll panel noted.

"Rs 849.15 crore in cash, Rs 814.85 crore worth of liquor, drugs worth Rs 3,958.85 crore and precious metals worth Rs 1,260.33 crore have been seized," it added.

Besides Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi have also shown seizures of drugs.

On April 17, Noida police busted a drug factory in Greater Noida wherein 26.7 kg of MDMA drug valued at Rs 150 crore were seized and two persons of foreign origin arrested.

The seizures in other areas have equally been impressive and surpass the entire seizures of 2019 parliamentary elections by a big margin, EC said.

With the increasing intensity of campaigning in the last three phases, the Commission is keeping a close tab on attempts at influencing voters through inducements and has directed its state chief electoral officers and enforcement agencies to step up the vigil.